Saturday, May 19, 2012

In the old days our Goan folks walked long distances from villages to the towns and vice versa. They also walked great distances to visit their relatives and friends. But some of the folks who grew vegetables, bananas and other produce carried them to the market place in huge baskets placed upon their heads.

Very often these folks would be waiting at one of the structures called 'Dovornem' by the side of the road. These were constructed in laterite stone that enabled these hard-working folks to place the load they carried on their heads on these structures and take a breather before proceeding on their journey either to or from the market.The height was purposely finished off at an average person's height so that there wasn't any need of another person to lift the load up back on their heads. What they merely had to do was slide the basket on the top flat surface of the 'Dovornem'.Often, people also waited for others to join them at such spots so that they would have company to travel in a group, thereby risking a lesser chance of getting themselves mugged or robbed of their jewelry or cash as they walked through lonely forests and hills.

When I was a young lad I have, on many occasions, accompanied my mother on such walking marathons, visiting my grandmother from Guirim to Siolim, and have comes across people who took some rest at such places, after from carrying the heavy load on their head for hours, so that they could cool themselves off from the over-powering heat, especially in the summer.

These trips were often scary as people tried to hurry home through the hills before nightfall, specially through a very scary and sinister area called 'Sonar Khett' known in the old days for thieves hiding in the forest who would prey on lonely women making their journey through these hills.

Such structures are now abandoned and some are still hidden among the overgrowth of buses along the sides of some roads.

Friday, May 18, 2012

'LIFE SUPPORT'

The Banyan Tree - The National Tree of India

'A tree growing out of the ground

is as wonderful today as it ever was.

It does not need to adopt new

and startling methods'.

- Robert Henri

The National Tree of India is The Banyan Tree. This huge tree towers over its neighbors and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks. The banyan tree regenerates and lives for an incredible length of time--thus it is thought of as the immortal tree.

Its size and leafy shelter are valued in India as a place of rest and reflection, and also as protection from the hot sun! It is still the focal point and gathering place for local councils and meetings. India has a long history of honoring this tree; it figures prominently in many of the oldest stories of the nation.

Monday, May 07, 2012

Beaver Lake, Tamworth, OntarioTamworth is a small community in Lennox and Addington
County, Ontario, Canada. Tamworth is located due North of Napanee, Ontario and
Northeast of Belleville, Ontario, near Kingston, Ontario, and is on Beaver
Lake.

Cabbagetown is located in downtown Toronto, bounded by
Wellesley, Parliament, and Gerrard streets and the Don Valley Expressway. In
fact it should be correctly called Dona Vale but the name 'Cabbagetown' somehow
stuck from the habit of its first residents growing cabbages on their front
lawns. It is a heritage neighbourhood where many famous Canadians in the arts
live.It remains as a popular tourist attraction, Victorian style homes lining
the streets.

The well-known Cabbagetown Art & Crafts Sale is held in Riverdale Park,
right beside Riverdale Farm in the centre of Cabbagetown. The farm consists of
a small family farm with a farmhouse, barn, and a variety of heritage breed
farm animals. Each year over 150 artists and craftspeople exhibit in the juried
high quality arts and crafts sale. And Edna's Pickles has been one of them for the last 6 years.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

These windows of a bygone era are unique to Goa. Many of such windows are making a comeback, both in appreciation and preservation. In the past they adorned the houses of the rich, the 'battkars' (landlords) and the affluent.

Basically, the window is set into the main wooden framework that is embedded into the wall that holds a full length latchable double doors on the inside. The main useful features of this type of double leaf window is to let the light pass through while the window is shut while keeping the elements and insects out.

The window itself is quite an intricate pattern mastered and perfected by Goan carpenters over the centuries.

It consists of vertical wooden strips into a timber framework, slotted to accept square pieces from the nacre of the mother-of-pearl shell which are inserted into these slots.

The transoms over such kinds of a windows are permanently fixed to the top portion of the window frames which are made in a variety of sizes, shapes and patterns.

In each of the window leaves pictured above are small square clear glass openings, each one set into the lower middle part of window. These openings are actually at an average human standing eye level on the inside. They serve a clever purpose for the inhabitants to have an unobtrusive look of the outside, but inhibits anyone looking in because of the sheer height of the plinth level of such houses in addition to the height at which the clear glass openings are made. Hinged to the main frame, these windows are provided with latches on the inside and metal hooks to keep them open and at the same time to prevent them from slamming shut due to a sudden gust of breeze. There is a solid wooden door on the inside of this window.

Invariably though one may notice, for some reason these are mostly found to be painted in blue, visible in the villages, cities and towns in Goa.